While who becomes the next president of Nigeria on February 16 presidential general election is still a matter under contention, the debate on which zone should produce the next president of the country has gradually taken over the political space in the last few months.
The incumbent, President Muhammadu Buhari, is said to be under pressure by some leaders of the South East to support the zoning of power from the North to the region as they have persistently agitated.
The President, who is to conclude his second term in office in 2023 if the pendulum swings in his favour, is reported not only to be in talks with leaders of the APC and other relevant stakeholders from the South-East to appease the region but also to extend the hand of friendship to the zone in order to consolidate his chances of returning to power in the forthcoming poll.
The bone of contention has been that the President has not really favoured the region as it is supposed to be in the area of appointment in his cabinet. Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari after his swearing in had promised only to give priority to the region he got bulk of the votes that brought him to power.
As the 2019 general election draws closer, high wire politicking has gripped the atmosphere. Cold agitation seems clear to be reignited as to which region the presidency should be zoned.
The South East, for instance, is left in a dilemma of choice between Buhari and Atiku as even leaders from the zone are divided over the duo of presidential candidates of the two major political parties, APC and PDP.
Incumbent President Buhari of the ruling APC has one more term to run, which placed the region at a lower risk, while former vice president Atiku Abubakar, had promised to do a single term of four years. But the former vice president’s policy programme which set a timeline of six years span has provoked some level of skepticism among the people of the region thereby creating grounds for caution.
The argument in some quarters is that it is very rear for any politician to seek for one term, particularly in this part of the world. Although his choice for former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, has added impetus to his chances in the South-East, a region that has always been a PDP enclave. The division among leaders of the region this time as to which of the two candidates should the people queue behind is also steering concerns.
Recently, an arm of the Ohaneze Ndigbo known as ‘Ime Obi’ released a communiqué signed by John Nnia Nwodo, President General Ohaneze Ndigbo World Wide, endorsing the candidacy of Atiku Abubakar, saying the region has decided to throw its weight behind the former vice president to realise the vision of the Igbo nation.
But in reaction to the endorsement believed to be in clear contrast of earlier stance of the Igbo apex socio-cultural organisation of not endorsing any of the presidential candidates, a former Secretary General of the organisation, Chief Obiora Ozobu, described the move as a hoax and personal invention of the President General of the organisation, Chief Nnia Nwodo.
Also, the minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, described the move as unfortunate, saying, “It was not a meeting of Ohaneze Ndigbo, but a meeting between Nwodo and his friends. Ohaneze has no business doing what that group did.”
Among those who condemned the move, are the minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama, former Senate President Ken Nnamani, and former Enugu State governor, Sullivan Chime, saying it was not the decision of the Igbo but that of self-serving individuals.
While this still remains an issue under contention amid pressure on splinter groups in the region, LEADERSHIP Weekend recalled that former Lagos State governor and Minister for Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, had punctured the frail and bottled confidence the South-East has on the choice of Buhari through their recent positions on zoning.
Fashola had at a town hall meeting at the end of 2018, organised by the Ministry of Information and Culture and the National Orientation Agency declared that the South West would produce the next president if the region voted for his principal, President Muhammadu Buhari.
The minister, who spoke in the Yoruba language and with a proverb said: “Did you know that power is rotating to the South-West after the completion of Buhari’s tenure if you vote for him in 2019? Your child cannot surrender her waist for edifying beads and you will use the bead to decorate another child’s waist. A vote for Buhari in 2019, means a return of power to the South West in 2023. I am sure you will vote wisely,” Fashola had admonished.
Although it is clear that Fashola was not speaking for Buhari, since the President has not come out clearly to identify with any zone. His position may have left many wondering as to which zone the President is genuinely romancing.
Pundits are of the view that, Fashola might have let the cat out of the bag, as part of a strategy to manipulate the people of South East and South West into voting massively for president Buhari in 2019.
However, there are those who took the position of the former Lagos State governor with a pinch of salt. They have held that, with a reinvented PDP ready to push the ruling party to the limit, with its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, whose campaign train continues to gain traction across the country, the opposition will give the ruling party a fight for its power and financial war chest. Hence, the issues of who decides where the pendulum swings do not add up as such may have been taken over by several factors.
While Fashola’s comment was still being whispered, the SGF, Boss Mustapha, on the contrary, had on 17th December at the inauguration of the South East chapter of the Presidential Support Committee (PSC), said the South East had a choice to make their dream of producing the next president in 2023 and that would depend on how the region vote in 2019.
According to him, the shortest route to producing a president of Igbo extraction is by supporting and voting for APC in 2019. He urged them to ensure that President Buhari is returned in 2019.
“President Buhari has demonstrated love to Ndigbo by works going on in the zone and on the second Niger Bridge. Buhari has done a lot for Ndigbo”, said Mustapha who was quickly backed up by the South East Zonal Coordinator, Chamberlain Adiaso.
According to Adiaso, “The 2023 Igbo Presidency agenda is not only realisable by sticking with President Muhammadu Buhari, but will also be a watershed in the lives of the Igbo. The opportunity has never been this bright and inviting since the return of democracy in 1999. It is absolutely your choice to make.”
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On the contrary, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, laid credence to the claim that the South West has something up the sleeves just as the South East.
The vice president had during his house-to-house campaign in Oyo, where he met the Alaafin, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi in a closed-door meeting, impressed it upon the royal father that the 2019 presidential election more important to Yoruba people of the South-West because the region had a larger interest in 2023.
The vice president who was in the company of Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi; the APC governorship candidate in the state, Chief Bayo Adelabu; a former Senate Leader and the APC senatorial candidate for Oyo Central Senatorial District, Senator Teslim Folarin, among others said, the ‘’Yoruba have a lot to contribute to Nigeria for the 2019 elections. It is for us Yoruba; if you understand, it is for us. We are not looking at 2019 but at 2023. If we don’t get it now, it may take some time again.
“We have to look forward to that; that is before us. Though there could be some challenges, what I know about President Muhammadu Buhari is that he is an honest man. If he says he will do something, he will do it.
“If you love Nigeria, you will vote for Buhari. Corruption is the reason Nigeria is not growing, a reason why they don’t want Buhari. They are out again; they are looters. Don’t allow them.”
While Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha, recently described himself “as the rallying point for all Ndigbo and the only one who can bridge unity, understanding, and togetherness in order to realize Igbo presidency in 2023.’’
Certain individuals from the South East have described Boss Mustapha’s offer as a scam by the ruling APC.
They alleged that some power brokers in the South West such as, the national leader of the ruling party, Ahmed Bola Tinubu, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo and a host of others, may have their cards tightly close to their chest, waiting to declare an interest when they consider the coast clear for 2023 presidential election.
According to the investigation, Bola Tinubu, no doubt, one of the pulling forces and backbone of the ruling party and a kingmaker, may want to become a king. The development may not be easy to crack and he would be ready to cash on the weakness of the South East to clinch for himself the 2023 presidential ticket of the APC.
Tinubu was instrumental to APC’s victory in 2015 that ushered in incumbent President Buhari and other of his political protégées, according to political observers.
They doubted Boss Mustapha’s declaration due to the power tussle, crises and media war between President Muhammadu Buhari and the leader of the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) Prince Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu is the leader of IPOB, a group that advocates a sovereign state for the Igbo speaking people of Nigeria as well as those from the south-south region of Nigeria. His activities were perceived as treason by the Nigerian government, which later led to his arrest on 14 October 2015.
His disagreement with the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari may hamper the trust of this administration to even consider the zone for the seat come 2023.
However, with the APC gaining grounds in the South East and South West and also creating division in voting choice among Nigerian citizens, some analysts have argued that Atiku’s choice for Peter Obi as a vice will influence the pattern of the vote in the South East, while the South West may still stick to voting Buhari.
According to them, the President may not have made his position public as to which region should produce the next president, Nigerians are however cautious of the fact that the South West stands a better chance to take over in 2023.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Weekend, the national chairman of United Progressive Party (UPP), Chief (Dr.) Chekwas Okorie said he doesn’t see any room for conflict and confusion in the statements made by Fashola and Mustapha, because all are driving towards one direction, which is to ensure the president retains his presidential seat come 2019 election.
“I have not seen any conflict there in real terms. Fashola has said what he thinks will make people happy to vote for the continuation of president Buhari, so that he will relinquish power when he will complete his second tenure in office.
‘’Boss Mustapha knowing also that the South East zone is about the weakest zone for APC, judging that the outcome of the previous presidential election has also said something to the South East zone that will entice the zone to vote massively for the president, so that they can also have a claim to the presidency,” said Chekwas.
He stated further that, ‘’At the end of the day, the presidential slot for APC will still be a subject of presidential primaries and the delegates of all the country. North, East, West and South and all the six geopolitical zones will participate in electing who the presidential candidate will be. So the South East will not be able to make a strong claim for that office if they do not invest their votes in president Buhari’s second term in office.”
Chekwas also said that it was a thoughtful act from Fashola and Mustapha to politically sway the South East and South West into voting massively for Buhari.
His words: “I see the two politicians and political office holders trying to woo the two important geopolitical zones to vote for the president, each using the propaganda that he thinks will appeal to the area that they are addressing.”
On his part, the APC national publicity secretary, Mallam Lanre Issa-Onilu said both Fashola and Mustapha never spoke for the party, rather they spoke in their own individual accord.
“None of them told you he was speaking for the government; neither did they tell you they were speaking for the party. I speak for the party; the party actually is not in any position to determine who the next president will be and was he will come from. It is the responsibility of the process, said Mr. Onilu, who insisted that there is an already established process which will determine where the next president will come from and that will sorely depend on the people.
Corroborating the position of the APC publicity secretary, former Enugu State governor, Mr. Sullivan Chime, says the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) will have the final say on the zone that gets the president in 2023.
Chime, who disclosed this while fielding questions from newsmen in Enugu following the campaign tour of President Muhammadu Buhari in the state, was confident that power will be zoned to the South-East if the party plays by the rules.
“At the appropriate time, the party will take a final decision. However, we have always been of the view that we have the reason to say it will come to us. The reason is simple: Power is shared between Northern and Southern Nigeria. The South West and South South had taken their turns remaining the South East,” he said. Chime, however, said that the South East must work to justify its clamor to produce the president in 2023.
